The Tasting Panel magazine

June 2015

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40 / the tasting panel / june 2015
CHEFS: ONE-ON-ONE WITH MERRILL SHINDLER
C
hef Wenford Patrick Simpson grew
up in Jamaica—not in Kingston or
Montego Bay or Ocho Rios, but in
lesser known parishes, like St. Ann's and
Clarendon, which makes the fact that he is the
Executive Chef at a New York City restaurant
and nightclub that seats 700 diners all the more
remarkable. He's gone from the land of ackee
and saltfish, jerk chicken and stamp 'n go, to
the BB King Blues Club & Grill—one of the
Big Apple's most sophisticated entertainment
venues. And on the way, he was chef for the
Royal Caribbean Cruise and Disney Cruise
Lines. His career arc isn't quite like anyone
else's, and from the Land of Reggae to the City
of Ralph Lauren, he's kept it spicy—just like BB
King's guitar.
Merrill Shindler: Last time I was in Jamaica, I
had the hardest time finding Jamaican food.
Tourists don't seem interested in eating local
. . .
Wenford Patrick Simpson: Some hotels have
jerk chicken on the menu. But it's not the same
food we eat at home. You want real Jamaican
food—curried goat, bammy bread, collard
greens, spicy jerk—you have to go to the
countryside. And the best is at home.
Why is it that mothers and grandmoth-
ers are always the best cooks?
Cooking is hard work. It takes a lot of heart.
It takes a lot of understanding. It takes people
who respect the ingredients. Jerk chicken,
oxtail, fish—they don't taste the same as when
grandmother or mother make it. They have the
passion. They can feel the flavor in their souls.
Did you grow up cooking in Jamaica?
I'm native born and bred. I grew up with
so many spices and so many herbs. I learned it
was all about the flavor when I had to become
a cook for my younger sister. Our mom was at
work, so I had to do the cooking.
Was there one Jamaican dish that was
yours?
When I was chef at the Club Caribbean Hotel in
Jamaica, I made a coconut curry salmon. Guests
couldn't get enough of it. It was salmon, which
they knew—but with so many new flavors.
Where did you learn Southern cooking?
The cruise lines had many different res-
taurants on them. I cooked in many of them. I
learned about candy yams and chicken 'n waffles.
Different spices from Jamaica. But lots of passion.
Did you ever have to dress as a charac-
ter on the Disney cruises?
Not me. But the servers did. We always knew
who was who. It was so funny having Mickey
serving the salad—and the guests never knew.
Tell me about cooking for so many
people at a blues club.
Planning, lots of planning. When a show starts
at eight, there'll be a line to get in. Everyone
wants to eat at once. The kitchen gets crushed.
But you make it work.
And what do you eat after a night feed-
ing hundreds of hungry blues fans?
I'll defrost a frozen pizza. I'll stop at a Chinese
takeout on the way home for chicken wings. I'll
stop at KFC. A lot of my friends have a problem
cooking for me because I'm such a perfectionist
in flavor and taste.
Wenford Patrick Simpson
B. B. KING BLUES CLUB & GRILL, NEW YORK CITY
PHOTO:
STUART
TRACTE
Chef Wenford Patrick
Simpson in front of
the celebrated music
venue in New York.
The legendary B.B. King passed away on
May 14 at the age of 89, just as we were
going to press.—Ed.